SACRAMENTO, Calif. – As one might guess, the Morr sisters often find themselves in the same place. No, the St. Francis seniors are not completely inseparable like some twins are. They don't look alike, and when the school uniform code gets relaxed, they don't dress alike.
On the other hand, they both wrap up their final seasons on the Troubadour varsity lacrosse team – albeit on opposite ends of the field. In the fall, they are both headed to UCLA, where both will major in biology. And in between, Louise and Lauren Morr will serve their fifth summer on the staff of Camp Nefesh, a day camp that serves the children of refugee families in the Sacramento area.
Indeed, the Morrs first joined the Camp Nefesh staff in 2019, before they ever set foot on the St. Francis campus as Troubadour students. They became counselors at the urging of a friend who attends the Congregation B'nai Israel, the Land Park-area synagogue that hosts the camp's activities.
In fact, credit for the origin of Camp Nefesh belongs in part to the CBI, but more specifically to a young woman named Lucy Beckett, who participated in a similar camp for refugee children in Seattle, Washington during the summer after her sophomore year at Cosumnes Oaks. Beckett returned to her Elk Grove hometown inspired to launch a similar camp in the Sacramento area. She collaborated with the CBI and drew on the resources of Opening Doors, a non-profit organization that serves the local refugee community.
Camp Nefesh launched the following summer, in 2018. Beckett graduated from CO in 2019 and enrolled at UC San Diego, but looked to ensure a sustainable future for the camp. She identified Louise Morr to take on one of four positions of Camp Director.
In the years since their first summer on the Camp Nefesh staff, both sisters have ascended to leadership positions on the Teen Planning Committee, a group that meets regularly throughout the school year in preparation for the following summer's back-to-back, two-week camps. Lauren serves as the TPC's communications director, while Louise enters her final year as one of the four Camp Directors. Louise also holds the distinction of being the first teen member of the Board of Directors.
In short, Camp Nefesh provides a nurturing environment for refugee children ages 4-17. This generally takes the form of games and activities, but also in educational and enriching programming. Among the camp days is Book Day, in which the children are introduced to age-appropriate reading. At the end of that day, they can take home the book. For that matter, Camp Nefesh gladly accepts in-kind donations of toys, books, games, costumes and art supplies.
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Camp Nefesh also seeks to provide a glimpse into American culture while remaining highly aware of the cultural needs of the refugee children. For example, the kids may be introduced to traditions from Halloween and Valentine's Day, but the camp staff avoids religious holidays. The children might learn about the U.S. Independence Day, but the camp staff is fully aware that the actual sounds of July Fourth fireworks could be PTSD triggers for kids who came from war-torn areas. Thus, the videos of fireworks have Disney tunes in the foreground.
A high percentage of the Nefesh campers hail from Muslim families, meaning the camp builds in specifically timed breaks throughout the day so that the children may honor the salat times. The counselors set aside a room for these daily prayers, typically a chapel, and orient themselves to know the relative location of Mecca. Furthermore, when Camp Nefesh has its Pool Day, the counselors observe separate swim times for the boys and girls, with pool attire that allows them to be fully clothed. Finally, the camp staff will gladly accept donations of food among the in-kind contributions, but all food must be halal and kosher.
"We just want to make sure we're supporting them. The camp is really for them, not us," says Lauren.
Most importantly, Camp Nefesh seeks to provide a safe space for these children. After all, a family with an SIV (Special Immigrant Visa) was granted such status because their previous environment was anything but safe.
"They're able to interact with other kids their age, not just their siblings, who maybe come from similar experiences," said Louise. "It gives them someone to relate to."
The joyful atmosphere goes both ways, too. Louise cites the many counselors who return to the camp each summer as testament to the program. "Every counselor I've talked to had nothing but a positive experience," she said.
"It was such a fun experience," said Lauren. "Especially growing up, going to summer camps – the fact that we could provide that experience to someone who had never done it before is really cool."
The children gain a welcoming experience for their new lives in the United States, so much so that several of the parents have lauded Camp Nefesh for helping their children vastly improve their command of the language in just one week of camp.
However, the educational opportunities flow in both directions. Louise considers the experience of working the camps and meeting the refugee children as "eye-opening" for the counselors. "I've always been a pretty aware person, but getting that firsthand experience completely changes your perspective.
Lauren concurs with her sister on the magnitude of the learning experience. A lack of understanding is what feeds xenophobia and plays into ignorance. The faces of the children in the camp puts the ultimate human face on the challenges facing many parts of the world.
"Kids are kids," Lauren says. "They want to play, they want to have fun, they want to get to know you. Some people tend to alien-ize people from other countries or people from different backgrounds and religions. They are scared of people who are different. But there's something about kids coming together that's so unifying.
"I consider myself a very open-minded person, and I think being exposed to the experiences that are so drastically different has helped with that. It's a cliché, but we're all so different and yet we're all so similar."
The Morr sisters were the first St. Francis students to get involved with Camp Nefesh after Beckett launched the program, but they will not be the last. By Louise's estimates, 10-15 Troubie students now serve as counselors – again, with nearly all coming back year after year. And sure, some SF students may initially volunteer to fulfill their mandatory service hours. Yet the summer commitment entails 60-70 hours – more than twice that of the required amount for even a Troubie senior. This, Louise says, speaks to just how enjoyable the camp experience is to its counselors.
Besides the obvious Service component of St. Francis' core mission, Camp Nefesh provides growth in another of the school's Four Pillars: leadership. Sure, the Board of Directors almost exclusively has adults, with Louise being the lone exception. These are individuals who can provide guidance that is generally out of the reach of high schoolers, such as legal and financial expertise. But the Teen Planning Committee, as the name implies, comprises younger folks. Among them, they tackle such responsibilities as communication (i.e. Lauren's role), marketing, fundraising and camp programming.
"The teenagers do everything else," Louise says. "Camp Directors are teenagers. We meets once a week on Zoom to plan the camp. We run the website and Instagram, and we do fund-raising. We recruit counselors, we handle the applications and do the interviews, everything."
That's correct: at an age when most people are still years away from their first job search, Morr and the other Camp Directors are already conducting job interviews. They even require all prospective counselors to submit resumes and references, just as an early practice for the real world they will one day enter. "It's low-stakes, and our decision won't rest on the resume, but we interview them, and that gives them that experience."
Among the more impressive initiatives took place in 2020, when the COVID-19 prohibited the in-person part of Camp Nefesh. The staff secured a grant that purchased 100 iPads. These were distributed to the counselors and refugee children to enable them to run their activities remotely. In 2021, Camp Nefesh transitioned to a hybrid model, with most days running remotely and each Friday taking place outside at local parks.
Louise plans on continuing her position on the Board of Directors, which means she, Beckett and Zoe Taper will be the only three members who also once served as counselors – providing a perspective to the camp needs that perhaps the older members may lack. Beckett once resolved to make Camp Nefesh sustainable after her departure, and it is clear she succeeded. Similarly, Louise Morr looks to keep St. Francis High as a major participating entity with the camp, long after she and Lauren have left the halls on Elvas Avenue.
"We're about to graduate from high school and yet we already have a lot more perspective about what's going on in the world," says Louise. "It's really important to be an informed citizen, not just of your community or your country, but of the entire world.
"I've always known that I want to work with kids, and Camp Nefesh solidified that because it's such a positive experience. I always want to have an awareness, a social activism, wherever I go and whatever I do."
NOTES: The importance of programs like Camp Nefesh remains high, as Sacramento is one of eight counties designated as "refugee-impacted" by the California Department of Social Services, along with Alameda, Los Angeles, Orange, San Diego, San Francisco, Santa Clara and Stanislaus... For more information on Camp Nefesh, including opportunities for donations (cash and in-kind), volunteer opportunites (teens and adults), head to www.campnefesh.com... Lauren and Louise Morr are two of four seniors on the St. Francis lacrosse team, which begins play in the North Coast Section Division I tournament Tuesday night... For more on that matchup, plus links to tickets and streaming video, visit gotroubies.com/sports/wlax/2022-23/releases/20230430r8y3t4.
